Dracula Reborn
by Some Random
Summary: Dracula's back and it's up to Van Helsing, Anna and their descendants to take care of the Count once and for all. But nothing is so simple when the Count's concerned, especially when one of them falls prey to his seductive charms... Finally off hold, yay!
1. A Note From Some Random

**A Note from Some Random:**

**I'm back! Yes, DR is finally off hold! Welcome to the new and improved version! (does happy dance)**

**Ahem, anyway...there have been a few plot changes, namely cause I couldn't remember the plot I started with (my bad!) and re-reading it made me unhappy with how Gabby was turning out, deviating from how I'd originally planned her and some things I'd done didn't make sense with others to do with her character and whatnot. So those that have already read much of this may actually find something they haven't read.**

**Some may be barely noticeable at first, like Anna's age, but some more so then others (the relationship between Gabrielle and Giselle at the beginning). Then again, some of the plot is basically the same, or seems the same as much of the chapters are nearly the same (first chappie for example), just tweaked a bit or had stuff added to them, (chapters 3 and 4 to mention two so far). No spoilers (apart from names...), you're just going to have to find out for yourself. Unless you already pretty much know a lot of what happens from reading it before. Ahem. But no spoilers mentioned by **_**me**_** here...except for above...but that isn't really spoilers as it doesn't detail intrinsic plot elements and you know what? I'm going to shut up about that right now.**

**Another thing I wanna get out there, mostly to those that have read this before, is an opinion on their names. I'm debating to keep them all the way they are as they all sound alike (Gabriel, Gabrielle, Giselle), and there's the confusion with the two Anna's and Gabriel's. So, if you have an opinion on this, feel free to let me know. Of course the Snr's (Anna and Gabriel) are gonna keep their names as obviously their Van Helsing and Anna Valerious but the others I'm open for comment. If I get none, well I'm that lazy I'll keep the names...**

**Of course, I don't own Van Helsing or any of the characters from the movie that I've used in this story, which is Dracula, Van Helsing and maybe a few others. As well as various other things (mostly songs, and those that haven't read this before will eventually see why). Anyway, enough from me, time for some Draccie goodness! ^-^**


	2. Chapter 1

**Dracula Reborn**

**Chapter One – ****Life after Two Deaths**

It was dark, very dark and it was raining. A man made his way across the crowded street, through the rain in his long, black overcoat and pants. Soon enough, he reached his destination. A dirty back alley, crowded with the homeless. He made his way to a house, and knocked on the door three times. A panel slid open in the door, at eye level. It revealed a pair of dark eyes, rimmed with black eyeliner.

"Who is it?"

"Ragan."

"The password?"

The man named Ragan muttered a word in Romanian, barely audible to other ears. The other person, behind the door, seemed to accept this word, but still inquired further.

"Symbol." The man outside the door removed the black glove from his right hand, and held it up in front of the panel in the door, the back of his palm facing the door. Nobody behind him could see the insignia on his hand, and he normally kept it hidden anyway. The door then opened to reveal a man, clothed in a black tunic with red trimming, and matching pants. There was black eyeliner around his eyes and red eye shadow on his eyelids. When he blinked, you could see the red eye shadow with what looked like two black eyes, one of each eyelid. On his right hand, he had the same insignia as Ragan did, and he wore long, black, steel-capped boots, with small spikes running down the front of each boot and a black cloak.

"Good to see you. They have been expecting you."

"Indeed. Thanks for informing me, Hal." Ragan pushed past Hal and made his way further into the house.

The two of them then came to a room, where a ladder poked up out of the floor. Climbing down the ladder, the two men found themselves in a cavern, with a tunnel in front of them. Walking down the torch lit tunnel, they soon reached another, much larger cavern. Mist wisped around their feet as they entered the cavern, to be greeted by six more men, dressed exactly like Hal, with the exact same makeup, and tattoos on their right hands.

"Ragan. How nice of you to join us. Tell us, what of your quest?" said one, who seemed to be the leader.

"Ah. My quest. Yes. It has been quite successful. My men are bringing what we require right as we speak."

"Very good. Soon, all that we have worked for shall be complete." The man speaking to Ragan bowed his head.

"He shall be reborn." Said another, bowing in the same fashion and Ragan repeated the gesture to both men.

"Of course. His enemies shall be caught, unprepared."

"May the Devil thank us." Said Hal, "For we prepare to bring his son to life."

"May the Devil thank us." Repeated the others, Ragan included. All eight of them stepped forward, to surround a black onyx coffin. The silence was then broken by a woman's scream.

"It seems that Ragan's quest is complete." Said the man that spoke to Ragan when he first arrived. Ragan smiled.

"Did you ever doubt me, Rax?" The man named Rax bowed his head.

"No, I did not." The conversation ended abruptly when two large men, wearing black leather jackets and tight black pants walked in, dragging a dark haired woman, in about her early twenties, her blue eyes wild with fear.

"What, what are you doing? What do you want?" she screamed. Ragan marched up to her and gripped her hard on the jaw, making her cry out in pain.

"You do not speak. Is that clear?" He let go of her and she nodded, terrified. The two men holding her captive pushed her forward and she stumbled down the small set of stairs to stand in front of the coffin.

"Put her in." said Rax and the woman screamed as she was lifted up and placed into the coffin. It was just wide enough for her, and long enough. They strapped her in, ignoring her struggles to break free and backed up into the circle. Her breathing was quick and uneven as fear was taking its hold.

"The human sacrifice, for the deceased to walk again." The ritual had begun. Hearing this, the woman screamed, before she was unceremoniously silenced.

"Blood of the faithful, to feed the child." A bottle full of a deep red liquid was brought forth, from each of the eight men standing around the coffin. There was a large flat-bottomed vial sitting at the top of the coffin, and each man poured the contents into the vial.

"The mark of the enemy, burned, and its ashes spread." One of the men took out a wooden cross from a pocket inside his cloak and a cigarette lighter. A spark flew in the lighter and a small flame appeared. In moments, the cross was nothing but ashes. These ashes were scattered around the coffin and the man stepped back into the circle.

"A chant in the deceased's native tongue, to find the spirit which we wish to resurrect." The men almost immediately began chanting in Romanian.

_Bring forth the spirit of the "man" we seek_

_Who has power over those that are weak_

_Unmatchable strength and an undeniable will_

_His enemies are dead and still_

_Resurrect the dead man whose insignia we wear_

_Loyal followers that dare_

_Defy the will of God_

The eight men raised their hands into the air, the back of their palms facing the coffin, showing the insignia tattooed on. The insignia of a dragon, curled around a sword. The mark of a man long dead. The mark of a man, that wasn't really a man. **He** was more than a man. He was power, a count of unmatchable power, of those of the undead. Vladislaus Dragulia. Count Dracula.

As a dark smoke began to wisp down from the ceiling, the eight men vacated the room. The woman in the coffin, frozen with fear, watched the smoke come down and completely cover her body. A few seconds later, the eight men outside the room heard her screams, waiting with baited breath for them to stop. Once they had, they entered the room. Standing in the coffin, where the woman had lain, stood a man, his back facing them. His long black hair hung down, and he stood there, completely naked. They watched as he held up a hand in front of him, admiring it. His head rose sharply as he detected their presence.

"Gentlemen." A voice with a thick Romanian accent passed easily through those lips, on a face that they could not see.

"My lord, Count Dracula." said Rax, dropping to his knees on the ground. The other men then did the same.

"What can we do to serve you, my lord?" Dracula smirked.

"Some clothes might be nice."

"Yes, my lord." The man scurried off, and Dracula smiled.

A few minutes later, Dracula was inspecting his new body, the one that rebirth had given him in front of a full length mirror. He was a lot younger, by about twenty years, but he still had his dark hair and striking blue eyes. A smile came to his thin lips.

'_Well, Gabriel. Let's see if you can be __**three**__ times lucky. _

**Some Random: ****Dracula's back...of course the title probably would have given the hint. This chapter pretty much hasn't changed at all. Anywho, I won't bug you much, just to say please review, it lets me know that people are actually reading this and that re-writing it all wasn't for nothing (cause that would REALLY suck). I mean, LaDaSF (Life after Death and So Forth) isn't doing too well, no reviews though I haven't updated for ages. So yeah, please review etc, etc, sorry if it's short.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two - The Opposition**

"Gabriel! What on earth are you doing in there?" shouted Gabrielle, "How much longer do I have to wait! I thought that you must have drowned yourself, and then I realised that you were having a shower. Still, can I please use the bathroom?"

"In a minute." shouted Gabriel.

"About nowish would be nice."

"I'm not finished!"

"We'll have customers any second now! Do you really want to keep them waiting while you work on your appearance, like a girl? And don't deny it brother; you finished your shower long ago. I can tell."

"Look, I'll be out in a minute!"

"Back in the days of our ancestor, **he** didn't bother to clean up his appearance before he went out. You're worse then Anna!"

"It's the 21st century, Gabrielle. Not the 19th!"

"Excuses, excuses Gabriel. You should know by now that I'm immune to your excuses. And I'm the only woman that probably is."

"Very funny Gabrielle."

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These two may seem like you're ordinary everyday siblings, but in fact they're not. They're Gabriel and Gabrielle Van Helsing. Descendants of the great Gabriel Van Helsing, monster hunter. A job that had become family tradition; boys sent to the Vatican in Rome at eighteen to train just like those before them. And, changing from the days of their ancestor and earlier members of the family, the girls as well. Both Gabriel and Gabrielle had done so, with only their younger sister Anna still to follow, as she was currently only fifteen years of age.

Their father, Gabriel Van Helsing Snr. went missing about six years ago, with their mother, Michelle Van Helsing, being killed two years later by a werewolf, one of the very monsters her husband had hunted. Leaving her three children orphaned at the ages of fifteen, fourteen and nine, which essentially caused Gabriel to grow up faster then other children his age, to take on responsibility as the man of the house, Gabrielle slowly drifting from them and keeping more to herself as time went on, both maturing faster then most of their counterparts, due to the weight of responsibility upon them. Anna seemed the only one unchanged during this period, slightly distant from grieving but very little more.

The family business faded into nothingness for at least three years not long later, until Gabriel returned after training with the Vatican to restart it, in the year of his eighteenth birthday, having gone for training a year earlier then tradition. But the siblings he'd left behind weren't the ones he came back to. A eleven turning twelve year old Anna was quite capable of looking after herself, while the sixteen turning seventeen year old Gabrielle he encountered was very unlike the one he'd left behind. It appeared the younger had become responsible for the older, a shadow of her former self, the cause appearing unknown to her two siblings.

Now twenty-one, twenty and fifteen, they run both the family business and their household on their own, each capable of taking care of the others and themselves.

As eldest, Gabriel still carries the same role from his childhood, filling his father's shoes yet carries to burden well.

Gabrielle avoids much personal confrontation leaving her with little friends, behaviour that has become normal to her siblings. Avoiding male contact as much as possible (excepting those she knew and trusted) and ignoring the looks and the compliments from those that had eyes for the dark haired, dark eyed beauty. Apart from not appreciating compliments, she seemed almost, **afraid** of men. Defensive and rather untrusting. She won't talk about what made her so dark and distant, what changed her in Gabriel's absence and seems afraid to put herself out there and be noticed (apart from the obvious family reputation) at all, appearing to prefer her own company and that of her family above others. Gabriel knew something was up, something had happened to make who he knew as his sister to disappear within herself and for someone else to take over in the meantime. And he was sure that she knew that he knew, yet hid it well. And yet, she'd still joke lightly with him, smile those thin, tiny smiles of hers and try to talk like they used to, before all this. It didn't deter him in the slightest. He'd been through the trash, seen those letters. If there was anything worth still living for, it was them. Especially after that near suicidal episode he'd witnessed once before, something she'd never had the heart to explain, deeming herself unworthy of her family's understanding. In the end of high school, when she went through a particularly bad spell, she'd often cut herself, as if she could make the despair go away with physical pain. She stopped a little while later, when she seemed to be getting better. But, over the last few days, he noticed that the old scars were slowly being replaced by fresh cuts.

Anna was the total opposite of her older sister. Large group of friends at school, laid back attitude, and a mouth that sometimes got her into trouble, she seemed to radiate a positive aura that affected others around her. Contrasting Gabrielle's dark moods and quiet disposition with her own and bringing light to the household. If anything were to happen to Anna, Gabriel was not sure what it would do to Gabrielle. Or even himself.

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"I know. I'm such a comedian." Gabrielle felt a smile come to her lips. Just a small one though. And just at that moment, Gabriel opened the bathroom door.  
"Happy? I'm done." The small smile stayed on her lips then slowly faded away.

"Good." Suddenly, there was the sound of a bell, signalling that they had customers.

"You see to them, while I have my shower." said Gabrielle. Gabriel nodded and walked out into the front room. Their house consisted of two buildings, joined together as one. The front one was the one they used to serve their customers, waiting help with special "problems", ones that involved the help of a monster hunter. The one at the back was their actual house. Gabrielle heard the sounds of eager customers practically mauling Gabriel, bombarding him with requests for help. Sighing, she walked into the bathroom to have her shower.

A couple of hours later, Gabrielle was sitting down on the couch, reading when she heard Gabriel walk in.

"That seems to be all of them. We'll be busy for the next week or two, just to get this lot done." He said, falling down onto the couch beside her. Gabrielle nodded, still reading. Suddenly, the phone rang. Seeing that Gabrielle wasn't going to answer it due to how well she was absorbed into her book, Gabriel reached over to the coffee table and picked up their cordless phone.

"Van Helsing residence, Gabriel speaking." He said into the receiver.

"Well that's good, I did have the right number." Said the person on the other end.

"Ah, Yuri. Nice to hear from ya mate. How are things going?" said Gabriel. Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

Yuri Norton had been a friend of Gabriel's from the Vatican; the relationship between the two of them goes as far back as when Gabriel first started studying there. Yuri was of an average build, with bleach blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He was of Australian origin and moved to Rome when he applied at the Vatican.

"Fine, can't complain much. Bit dull over here though, all the Church stuff. You?"

"I just got mauled with about half a million requests for assistance from townsfolk. The monster hunting kind of assistance." Yuri laughed.

"Oh, I almost forgot why I called in the first place."

"Almost?"

"Ha ha, Gabriel. But this isn't the time for jokes. This is serious." Gabriel could hear the serious tone of his friend's voice and knew at once that it must be serious. Enough for Yuri to act this way.

"Okay. What's so important?"

"Well, you and your sister need to come back to the Vatican. I think there's someone you need to see."

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"Well, look what the cat dragged in." Said Yuri grinning, the moment Gabriel and Gabrielle entered the Vatican, "Enjoy the flight?"

"I wish." Gabriel said, "The in-flight movie was crap and the food tasted terrible. This better be worth it."

"Well, you did make us go passenger class, to save money. We could have easily gone in first or business class." Said Gabrielle, a small smile on her face. And that was all that anyone ever got. Gabrielle's smiles were rather restrictive, to see one at all was a blessing. Usually only to those of her close circle, which wasn't many.

"She has a point mate."

Gabriel glared at his friend, "Do you know how much these plane tickets cost these days?"

"Nope, cause I haven't been anywhere lately cept here. So count yourself lucky."

"Guess that goes with the job."  
"Pretty much. Now, down to business. Follow me." Said Yuri, leading them into the underground complex. They walked past the blacksmiths making swords, inventors perfecting their inventions and areas where new weapons were being tested. Gabrielle saw something that caught her eye on a nearby table, walked over and picked them up.

"I thought I lost these things after my battle with that American werewolf over the Grand Canyon. I guess I was wrong." She said, admiring the Tojo blades. They still carried the scratches from previous use and there were specific nicks in the markings that she could identify that marked them as hers.

"Those did take some time to extract and recover." Said Yuri, "Need ta be more careful with your things Gabs."

"I can just imagine. And I am careful. Mostly." Hooking them to her belt, she followed Yuri and Gabriel as they continued on to their destination.

"Cardinal, I've brought the Van Helsing's as you requested." Said Yuri to a man dressed completely in red. The Cardinal. One of many that had assisted many generations of the Van Helsing family in their quests.

"Gabriel. Gabrielle. Welcome." He said, "I see that Gabrielle has found her Tojo blades. You must understand the time it took to get those back."

"I do. I won't be so, careless next time." She said, apologetically.

"Now, I bet you're wondering why you're here." The two of them nodded.

"You both know about your ancestor, Gabriel Van Helsing, don't you?" The two of them nodded again.

"It's been over a century since he was out and about, monster hunting. But what does this have to do with him?" asked Gabriel.

"Ah. Follow me." The Cardinal walked over to a wooden door, not too far away from them, with Yuri, Gabriel and Gabrielle following close behind.

Opening the door, the Cardinal stepped through.

"Gabriel." He said.

"What?" said Gabriel, trying to peer over his shoulder into the room.

"I don't think he means you, Gabriel. I think he means…that…Gabriel." Said Gabrielle, pointing out into the centre of the dimly lit room. Standing right where she was pointing, was a young man, with dark hair and dark eyes, looking mighty similar to the two of them.

"Where am I?" said the man. He was speaking to the Cardinal.

"You are in the Vatican Gabriel. Close to a hundred and fifty years in the future." The man named Gabriel looked surprised.

"That long?" The Cardinal nodded.

"Do you, remember your son, Velkin, Gabriel?"  
"Where is he? What has happened to him?"

"He's dead Gabriel. And he has been for a long time. But, his great, great, great grandchildren are standing right beside me. Your great, great, great, great grandchildren."

"Great, great, great, great grandchildren?"

"Wait, you're not saying that he's…he's…our ancestor?" said Gabrielle, surprised. She couldn't help herself.

"Who is that?" said Gabriel, and turned his head to look at Gabrielle. And he sure got a surprise when he did. Those dark eyes and hair, reminded him of his dead wife. Anna Valerious.

"Anna?"

"No, this is not Anna. This is Gabrielle. Your great, great, great, great granddaughter." Said the Cardinal.

"Oh man! This is the pits!" said Gabriel, "I'm Gabriel Van Helsing Junior again!"

Walking forward, Gabrielle wanted to get a closer look at the man that was supposedly her great, great, great, great grandfather. He was family, right?

"So you're the infamous Van Helsing. The first one." She said, curiously looking at him, yet at the same time feeling cautious. Such things were part of her nature. Now that he thought about it, Gabriel could see parts of his son in her, but some parts of her still looked like Anna. And they would, as this Gabrielle was her descendant. Oh, how he missed her.

"Is something wrong?" said Gabrielle, catching his rather troubled expression. It had appeared on his face the moment he'd started thinking of Anna.

"Fine. So, tell me. What do you do for a living?"

"What do you think all you're descendants have been doing? Monster hunting. What else?" she said, and he noticed the Tojo blades hanging on her belt. They looked rather worn, a sure sign of use.

"Oh these?" she'd caught him looking at the Tojo blades worn at her hips, "These have quite a story behind them."

"Tell me."

She looked a little taken aback that he'd actually asked, "Well, the last incident I remember was that I lost them in the Grand Canyon. That's in America by the way." She paused, "I was battling a werewolf when I got hit and I lost my grip on them. I remember seeing them just falling down into the seemingly endless abyss and wondering if I'd ever get them back. It's been about a year or two since then. I was eighteen when it happened."

"How old are you now?"

"Twenty now. Gabriel, "she pointed over at her brother, who waved, "is twenty-one and our little sister, Anna is…"

"Wait, did you say Anna?"

"Um, yes. She was named after her, um…great, great grandmother who died when she was four years old. I think she was killed when werewolves attacked the house. Her brother, Miguel, swore revenge on the werewolves, and succeeded in avenging his younger sister's death." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, wondering why she was spouting family history at him, "Anyway, my little sister however is…um…I think she's about fifteen years old." Silence.

"Is that too much?" she asked him timidly and he shook his head.

"No, it's not too much."

"Good. I was a bit worried that it was and I'd lost you. If you want to know the full history, it's recorded in the book of family history back home."

"You don't live here?"

"No. We live in Transylvania. Which I believe is the homeland of…"

"Your great, great, great, great grandmother. My wife."

"Yes. That's exactly what I was going to say. Um, apart from the wife part."

Van Helsing could see that she seemed a little nervous to be talking to him, yet passed it off as the fact she was talking to her long dead (or not so much now) ancestor.

"Am I the only one here that's curious to discover why he's here in the first place?" said Gabriel, talking to the whole group. Gabrielle and Gabriel turned to face the other three when the Cardinal started speaking again.

"Ah, that's the important part about why I wanted you two to come here."

"Alright then. Tell us what's so important." Said Gabriel.

"Our sources have revealed a brotherhood located in the outskirts of town. They too have an underground complex, hidden underneath an apartment."

"Cultists in a basement, what will they think of next?" Yuri joked, getting a smile out of Gabriel.

"Hey, at least it isn't beneath a supermarket."

"That would be awkward."

"What are they a brotherhood to?" asked Gabrielle, getting straight to the point.

"That's the important part. The brotherhood is linked to the former Count Dracula, a powerful vampire that Gabriel, Senior, defeated over one hundred and twenty-eight years ago." The group was silent.

"That's not the worst. The worst is that they may have succeeded in resurrecting the Count." Gabrielle's eye's widened.

"No…way." Gabriel said, speaking for both of them.

"Yes way. And if this is correct, then he will not appear as he used to. Like Gabriel, he has been given a new body. A younger body. So he won't be any older than either of you two." The Cardinal pointed at Gabriel and Gabrielle.

"All this Gabriel and Gabriel business is giving me a headache." Said Gabrielle, holding her head and Gabriel just laughed at his sister's expense. She glared at him.

"If all this information is correct, then Dracula will have to be killed once more. And quickly." The two Van Helsing siblings nodded.

"Yuri has the information you need on the Count. I need to speak to Gabriel. Senior." Gabriel glared at him and Gabrielle laughed quietly, this time at her brother's expense.

The two of them followed Yuri outside the room and the Cardinal turned to Gabriel Snr.

"Now, I want you to keep an eye on Gabrielle." He said.

"Why the Devil do I need to do that?" said Gabriel Snr.

"Miss Van Helsing has a rather bad case of depression. In her teenage years, she attempted several times to take her own life. Nobody really knows what caused such a shift, considering in her early years she was nothing of the sort. And don't be afraid to find her quite defensive, or overly cautious."

"Oh."

"And there's another reason."

"Go ahead."

"Dracula may find out about her, and consider turning her."

"Why?" After saying such a thing, Van Helsing figured it may not have been his smartest question. The answer seemed quite obvious.

"She's the descendant of his greatest enemy, she's female, he'll be wanting brides and she's a very beautiful young woman; there are many reasons why. So, watch out for her. But don't let her catch on, and don't deliberately keep her out of things. She's a very capable young woman. Much like your late wife." Gabriel Snr looked at him straight on.

"No. I'm not saying that she's an incarnation or anything. No, Anna may yet find her own way back into the world, much like you. She may have a part to play in all of this. But don't get your hopes up." Said the Cardinal. Gabriel Snr nodded.

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"So your saying that this Dracula character used to be the son of Valerious the Elder, who just happens to be my great, great, great, great grandmother's ancestor." Said Gabrielle, a surprised look on her face. Yuri nodded.

"Hold it Gabs, we have company." Said Gabriel, drawing her attention to the return of the Cardinal and Gabriel Snr. Now they could see him properly. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans, a tight dark red t-shirt with a black jacket over the top. He also wore a wide belt at his waist and black boots. His hair was shorter than in the pictures that the two siblings had seen of their ancestor and there was a black hat (much like the one he used to wear) perched on his head.

"Someone has integrated into the 21st century well, hasn't he?" whispered Gabriel to Gabrielle.

"I think the Cardinal gave him the clothes."

"He's lucky he didn't end up with monk robes then."

"Gabriel shall be accompanying you while you undertake this mission." Said the Cardinal, "And no excuses. It's time the two of you had a proper adult around. You've been living with no parental influence for too long."

"No parental influence?" said Gabriel Snr, looking puzzled.

"He means that our parents weren't around to guide us very much." Said Gabrielle.

"Our father went missing when we were little. Our mother died not long after." Said Gabriel, solemnly.

"What was your father's name?"

"Gabriel. After his grandfather. And his grandfather's grandfather, which is basically you. Surprisingly, only Gabrielle, our grandparents and our great, great grandfather had original names. No wait, grandma Rebecca was originally named Anna before she was renamed Rebecca after her grandmother."

"Oh. Okay."

"More junk that you'll find in the family history book back at home." Gabrielle added.

"I should probably read that."

"That might be a good idea." Said Gabriel, getting off the bench he had been sitting on, "It's got some stuff about Dracula in it too, so it may actually be useful."

"Well, let's take him back home." Gabrielle pointed to Gabriel Senior, "We all have a lot of catching up to do. And you have jobs Gabriel."

"Why can't you take some of them?" replied her brother, raising an eyebrow.

"I...uh, have to watch Anna." Her eyes then widened, "Which reminds me. Anna will be home from school any minute. We'd best be going." She led Gabriel Snr up the stairs leading out of the underground complex, leaving Gabriel behind with Yuri.

"Nice to see ya mate. Too bad you couldn't stay long." Said Yuri to Gabriel, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Yeah. We'll have to catch up another time. Get your arse over to Transylvania sometime."

Yuri laughed, "Will do. See ya mate."

"See ya." The two of them shook hands and Gabriel ran after his sister.

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"Gabby! Gab! Are you two home yet?" shouted Anna to the empty house, "Hm, I guess not." Dumping her school bag in her room, Anna then heard a car pull up.

"Hopefully that's them, otherwise I'm gonna be bored shitless for another god knows how long. Eh, there's always TV." Walking out to the front room, she saw her two older siblings walk into the house followed by another man that looked about her brother's age who she swore she'd never seen before, yet also looked familiar.

"Uh, hey guys." she said, looking at them, "Um, who's that guy?" Noticing Anna, Gabrielle turned to look at her.

"Uh, Anna. You could say this is great, great, great, great, granddad Gabriel." She said, sheepishly.

Anna raised an eyebrow, "You're serious?"

Gabrielle looked at Gabriel.

"Yes actually." He said, "And he's really tired from his trip and needs to go lie down right now. So I'll just direct him to the spare room." Him and Gabriel Snr went into the back of the house, in the direction of the bedrooms, leaving them behind in the front room.

"He looks a little young to be our great, great, great, great grandfather." said Anna, leaning against the desk.

"Uh, this is going to be really unbelievable Anna, but he actually is our great, great, great, great grandfather. He's just well, been reborn or something like that." said Gabrielle.

"Figured. More mumbo jumbo crud. But, hell, I'm gonna believe you. You guys hunt monsters for cripes sake, so it's practically normal. And he's gotta be here for a reason, right? You don't just bring randoms home for no reason."

"Yes, we'll explain later."

"You better." She stretched, "So what was his name again?"

"Who?"

"Our ancestor or whatnot."

"Gabriel."

"Hm, looks like there's gonna be two Gabriel's in the house." Her smile turned wicked.

"Anna." Gabrielle scolded, "Don't deliberately call your brother Gabriel Jnr to piss him off."

A mock shocked look came to Anna's face, "Gabby! How dare you accuse me of such childish things! I'm fifteen and am mature enough not to do such stuff for some weird thrill."

Gabrielle looked at her sister pointedly, her expression speaking for her.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Gabriel Snr and Gabriel it is."

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

Later, all four of them settled down for dinner. Gabriel, Gabriel Snr and Anna were sitting at the table, waiting for Gabrielle to come out with dinner. Conversation was pretty much non existent and Anna was itching to talk to someone. Noticing this, Gabriel thought that he might start a conversation with his younger sister, knowing otherwise she'd complain of self-combustion and rapidly start a conversation herself. He could do without the complaining.

"So, Anna how was school today?" he said.

"Oh, well, it was rather boring today, which was shit. Nothing terribly exciting." Swearing from the youngest Van Helsing was not unheard of and she was really only punished for serious swearing. It was a bit of a shock to Gabriel Snr though.

"Though I found out that Bridget has a massive crush on Michael. And I also think that Ivan has a crush on me." she said, "Which is cute and all, but I don't really know what to do about that. I swear Michael has a crush on Bridget though, which why they haven't started dating is beyond me." She drew circles on the table with her finger, "I mean, seriously, if you like someone and they also like you, and it was pretty obvious you both liked each other, wouldn't you go out?"

"Er..."

"Is that way with "adult"', she mimed quotation marks around adult, "relationships? Seems waay too complicated to me sometimes and heck, I'm only fifteen."

"Okay." Gabriel blinked, processing all that at once. Gabriel Snr wasn't game to say anything.

"So?"

"Well, do either of them know the other likes them?"

"No."

"Then that could explain things."

"But I just said it was obvious! How the hell could they **not **know?"

Gabriel shrugged, "I don't know."

"Were you ever like that with girls?"

"Anna, there is a time and a place to ask me about my school love life and that's never."  
"Aw come on! It's not like I asked who you shagged back in high school."

He pulled a face, "Thank God." He looked over at Gabriel Snr, calmly sitting there listening to them, "I think you've confused the hell out of him."

"Pff. Not my fault he was born a hundred or so years ago and is so out of whack with things."

"You could at least explain."

"But that's annoying...and you know what I'm like with annoying things..."

"Anna..."

"Gab..."

The conversation stopped as Gabrielle came through the door, holding three plates.

"I'm afraid its steak and chips tonight guys. After two international flights I don't feel like making anything major." she said, placing the plates in front of them.

"Eh, it's not like it's anything major most nights." Anna said, reaching for her cutlery.

"Anna..." Gabriel said.

"What? It's true. I'm not complaining; in fact I don't really care. S'not like we're anything like Cammy's family or the Lorr-whats-there-faces."

"Lorriets."

"Yeah. Those rich bitches."  
"Anna!" Gabrielle scolded, "What did I say last time about that sort of language while we're eating?"

"The mother act sooo does not suit you Gabs. Not like it works."

"Someone has to try." She said quietly, and then went back to her food, saying no more.

A little while later, dinner was finished and all four of them headed for bed. Gabrielle had just managed to get Anna to go to bed, and was heading back to her own room, when she heard noises coming from Gabriel's bedroom. Gabriel Snr's bedroom to be exact. Resting her ear against the door, she heard him thrashing about in his sleep. She was just wondering wether she should check it out, when he stopped. Shrugging, she headed off to bed.

'_I'll ask him in the morning.' _she thought to herself.

The nightmares were terrible, but the pain in his heart was worse. If the Cardinal was right, and she did come back, would she remember him? Would she remember all that they had been through? The good and the bad? Would she remember anything?

**Some Random: Well, now you know the opposition aka. Van Helsing and co. And obviously, it's a Van Helsing/Anna pairing reference; you'd have to be an idiot not to notice that...and yes, to those that have read this before, I've actually aged Anna a bit, so it's ruined the cute little scene with her and VH in the park in later chapters, but hey, I'm deciding to cut the time down (avoiding the whole five years thing later...oops, spoilers! Eh, not really as it's not happening...)**

**Anyway, reviews are appreciated, though I'm not expecting too much at such an early stage in the story considering this is pretty much a redo...meh.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three - A Day's Work...**

Gabrielle was awakened the next morning by the sound of shouting downstairs. Gabriel was arguing with someone. Climbing out of bed, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, blinked several times and yawned before heading downstairs to see what was going on. Anna and Gabriel were standing in the lounge room and Anna wasn't looking too pleased.

"Why can't I! I demand to know Gabriel!" shouted Anna, "I'm fifteen, not a baby!"

"Because you can't! You have to stay at home this weekend. We're going to show ancestor Gabriel around and he's going monster hunting with me." said Gabriel.

"What's so important about that? And why the hell do I have to stay home?"

"Someone has to watch the house Anna."

"Still doesn't answer my first question..."

"It's important because maybe I can show him how capable I am. And besides, I think Gabrielle's coming too, so nobody's going to be home. That's why you have to watch the house."

Gabrielle sighed. Anna must want to go over to her best friend Bridget's house that weekend, and Gabriel wanted her to stay at home and watch the house. Like that wasn't normal. She could swear her sister spent half her time over at her best friend's place.

"Bridget could always come over here and both of them could watch the house. Two problems solved, right?" she said. Her two siblings turned to see her standing there, in her pyjamas.

"She's not a baby Gabriel. And what trouble could those two possibly get up to here that they wouldn't at Bridget's?" Gabriel sighed.

"So Anna?"

"Hm, guess it's the same thing really. I still get to see Bridg, only here..." Anna mused, deliberately drawing it out, "I am _allowed_ to do that, aren't I?"

"Yes."

The biggest smile planted itself on Anna's face. "Thanks bro!" she hugged him tightly, "We won't get into trouble, I promise."

"You better not. I don't want the house on fire when we get back."

"On fire? Gabriel, I think you're exaggerating..."

"Uh, Anna. I think you better hurry up. You'll be late for the bus." said Gabrielle and Anna let go of Gabriel.

"Okay. I'll talk to Bridg about it, and see what she says. Hopefully things work out. So I'll see you lot when I get home, capice?" Anna picked up her school bag, slung it over her shoulder and skipped out of the lounge room, giving them both a little wave before she disappeared into the front room. They could hear her footsteps go out the door, and that sound was followed by the sound of the bus pulling up. Gabriel and Gabrielle were silent until the bus left. Then Gabriel spoke.

"You know you just encourage that behaviour of hers."

"We were just like that when we were kids. She's no different." replied his sister, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get some breakfast." Gabrielle walked past Gabriel and into the kitchen.

What she found in there was a surprise. Gabriel Senior was leaning against a bench, with a plate with toast on it in his hand and his eyes were glued to the small television that they had in the kitchen.

"Someone's adjusted well." she said, and he turned his gaze away from the television and over to her.

"Morning Gabriel Snr." she said.

"Morning Gabrielle." He put down his now empty plate and rested both palms on the bench behind him.

"So, what are we doing today?" he said, looking very relaxed. It was strange how normal he seemed in their kitchen, which she also found rather amusing. He'd certainly made himself at home.

"I have no idea. Probably work." Gabrielle made her way over to the pantry and took out a packet of cereal. She then went to cupboard and grabbed a bowl and spoon. Gabriel watched her prepare her breakfast for a moment then grabbed his plate and put it in the sink. Then he turned back to the television.

"What are you watching?" asked Gabrielle, feeling curious as she hadn't really paid attention to what was on the TV.

"I don't really know. The woman on the right is obviously distressed about something. It also appears that she is arguing with this man, who I think is her husband. They were saying something about, cheating, affair something like that." Replied Gabriel, turning to look at her.

"Ah. A soapy." She replied.

"Soapy?" he asked, puzzled.

"Um, how can I put it? A soapy is like a dramatic um, play…where the actors portray a very dramatic form of life. And that is the crappest explanation that I've ever heard myself come up with." Gabrielle rubbed her temples with her fingertips, "Okay. A soapy is practically a drama. A dramatic play. A tragedy of sorts. Where everything in life is over-exaggerated...mostly. There's a lot of drama."

"I think I get it now. Sort of."

"Soapies are generally hard to understand if you haven't been watching it from the first episode. But there's one that I used to watch that was okay until things deteriorated."

"What's the name of this "soapy"?"

"Desperate Housewives."

"Desperate Housewives? Not this, Home and Away or Neighbours that I've heard about."

"No. Those two are practically the same."

"Huh?"

"Okay, let me explain. Something happens on Neighbours; let's say…someone dies in a awful car crash, right? Then, you watch Home and Away and it's practically the same thing, except the characters are different."

"I see."

"Anyway, enough about soapies. The damn things give me a headache trying to understand them half the time anyway. No wonder I stopped watching." Gabrielle rinsed out her empty bowl and placed in at the stack on the sink.

"I see."

"How are you settling in to the twenty-first century?" It seemed the right thing to ask, not that she really felt like talking much. Although talking seemed to be something she was doing a lot of lately, which felt a bit strange. Gabriel seemed to be leaving all the explaining stuff to Gabriel Snr to her. Not to mention that Anna was being her lazy self and not helping in the slightest. But at least he was family, sort of. And it was easier to talk to family, she could at least somewhat expect what was coming her way. The better she knew someone, the easier it got. Strangers...not so much. And that worried her, especially since...since a long time ago.

"It's often quite confusing. Everything is new. Well, not new exactly. Different. Things have changed."

"Yeah, they have changed. Remember France?"

"Yes. I was hunting down Mr. Hyde. I believe there was a tower being built when I was there last."

"Ah yes. The Eiffel Tower."

"Eiffel Tower?"

"Yeah. That's the tower you saw being built. You can see for miles from the top."

"I see. And the Notre Dame Cathedral?"

"Well, I think they might have replaced the Rose Window. Looks almost alike to the original. Nobody really even knows that it got shattered."

"I see. Again."

Silence for a moment, before the question that had been on her mind since the day he arrived surfaced.

"So, this business with Dracula..."

"I imagined we'd have to talk about that eventually."

"Yeah, considering the whole...uh, we have to slay him to save the world again type deal."

He nodded, the TV continuing on in the background.

"Do you...have any ideas?" she ventured, not sure exactly what to say anymore.

"I think we should talk about such things later, with your brother."  
"Right, right. I understand. Teamwork and all..." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "Well, I'd love to stay and chat longer, but I have to get dressed. And work calls, I guess. Gabriel probably left me something. He's probably already started his jobs by now."

"Yes. I think I heard him leave a little while ago." Gabrielle left the kitchen without another word (what was she supposed to say?) and Gabriel turned back to the TV again.

Once she was dressed, Gabrielle went to check on her brother. He had indeed left, and there was a note on the desk in the front room telling her where he was. Reading the note, Gabrielle sighed. She then picked up the list of clients that had been made yesterday.

"Not Mrs Harris again." She rolled her eyes, "She keeps complaining of a "disturbance" in her back garden. Last time she was convinced that it was a werewolf, when it was only a stray dog. It seems that the "werewolf" has come back again." Sighing, she put the list down.

"Best go attend to it."

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

Gabriel made his way through the dark alleys of the poorer district. Someone had reported activity of what they thought was a "supernatural creature" that was hanging about the place. And he'd come to investigate. It was better than the job for Mrs Harris, the old lady just gave him the creeps sometimes. Gabrielle was going to kill him for giving her that job, but there was no way he was going over there again.

"Now, if I remember correctly, the last sighting of the "supernatural creature" was around about…" he turned a corner to come to a dead end, "…here?" A cold wind blew past and Gabriel pulled his black coat tighter around him.

"Winter's on its way. And about time. I was getting sick of this in between nonsense." Suddenly, a shuffling sound caught his attention. It was barely audible, but his keen hearing picked it up as if it was a radio turned up almost full ball.

'_It seems our little "friend" has found me.'_ He thought. Reaching down to his belt, he gripped his pistol, waiting for the creature to come closer. He heard it come slowly closer, probably thinking that he was unaware of its presence.

'_That's it, closer…just a little closer…'_

Gabriel could hear the creature come to a stop behind him.

'_Got you.'_ Whipping around, his pistol drawn, he came almost face to face with a creature that he'd never seen before.

'_Oh my god.'_

The creature was almost the same height as him, and looked almost human. Apart from the fact of the green glowing device on his chest and another one that made up the back of his skull. It looked like it had been made up of a dozen men, all stitched together to make this creature.

"It can't be…" Gabriel was speechless and the creature looked at him, somewhat fearful of the weapon that he held and his aggressive posture.

"The Frankenstein monster."

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

Gabrielle made her way up the front path to Mrs Harris's house. She was dressed entirely in black, black tight pants, black tight long sleeved shirt, black coat, black boots, black gloves, black hat and a black scarf. Autumn was making way for winter, and with it came the cold, icy weather. And the snow. She couldn't forget the snow. If the path back at the house got blocked, she could always make one of the Gabriels clear it. At least having two of them would become more useful then it was at the moment. Especially since they hadn't heard or seen anything of Dracula quite yet. Didn't mean he wasn't around though.

Shrugging at her thought, she knocked on the front door. She didn't have to wait long. Mrs Harris came to the door, her watery blue eyes staring at Gabrielle through her dark rimmed glasses. Her wrinkled hands were shaking, either from the cold or…fear.

"You came just in time. It should be coming again, soon. Always comes around this hour." Gabrielle nodded politely, and the old woman led her into the house, closing the door behind her to keep out the cold.

"Follow me." She said, and Gabrielle followed her to the back garden. And was she surprised at what she saw. Fragments of pots were scattered through the plots. Speaking of the plots, most of the plants were either trodden on, or ripped out and thrown to another part of the garden. The small gazebo in the centre of the garden was ruined, the roof had pieces of the tiles pulled off and thrown away and it didn't look like the supports for the roof would hold for very long. Small pagodas were smashed to pieces and she could see one of them was snapped in half, and by the looks of it, by hand. She wasn't dealing with a stray dog this time.

'_This is much bigger than I thought. We haven't had a werewolf around these parts for ages. Gabriel and I took care of most of them.' _Yet somehow the idea of a werewolf seemed important, niggling at the back of her mind, but she couldn't for the life of her figure it out.

"It would be a good idea to go inside." She said to Mrs Harris.

"Why?"

'_What a stupid question.'_

"If this thing did this to your garden, imagine what it could do to you." That got the old lady moving. Gabrielle heard the sound of the back door locking, and smirked.

"Now, to deal with this giant puppy dog." Gabrielle smirked at her own joke, as bad as it was. After she'd carefully loading silver bullets into her pistol, she heard a twig snap in the forest nearby. Whirling around, her cocked pistol aimed at the direction of the sound, she waited.

"_Go."_

Hearing the sound of heavy footsteps coming from her right, she rolled forward as a werewolf came flying at her from that side. Getting to her feet, she flipped over it as it charged at her again. Thinking quickly, she shot three times at the werewolf, who stopped in its tracks. Breathing heavily, she lowered her pistol, thinking that the beast was done for. Then the beast threw its head back and let out an almighty howl.

"Shit."

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

Gabriel wasn't sure what to do. Should he kill the beast, or leave it? Maybe the other Gabriel would have an idea of what to do. After all, he'd dealt with the thing before. Though if it was killing people, he'd have no choice but to put an end to it.

"Stay back." He said, as the creature tried to step forward.

"Van Helsing?" he heard it say.

"One of them. Now stay still while I decide what I should do with you." Gabriel watched the creature sit down in the middle of the alley and look at him.

"So Van Helsing is dead. But his descendants live on, am I correct? It has been many years."  
"In a matter of speaking."

"What? Are you saying that he's alive?" The creature got to his feet and Gabriel cocked his pistol.

'_Smart move Gab, mention the dude he's met before is still alive. Now he's gonna want to see him, I just know it.'_

"I said stay still."

"But I must speak with him!"

'_Knew it.' _"Why must **you** speak with him?"

"It regards a very important matter."

"If you mean to warn him that Dracula has returned, then you are too late. He already knows. As do I. And I don't even know why I'm talking to you."

"It is important that I see him."

"Why should I let you?"

'_Though it may not seem like it buddy, I really don't wanna have to kill you unless you make me.'_

"I need his protection."

"Why do you need protection?"

'_Haven't you read about him before idiot? Dracula wanted him for something, so no doubt since the ol' vamps back, he'll want him again for the same reason. If he knows this guy's still around that is.'_

"Take me to Van Helsing and I'll explain."

"Fine." Gabriel grabbed him by the collar, "But don't try anything nasty, or you'll end up with a bullet in this fancy looking skull of yours." Then he led him out of the alley.

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

She'd missed. How could she have missed? It had been standing right in front of her. Was she getting sloppy? No time to think about that though. The werewolf was glaring right at her and she didn't plan on becoming its lunch. Or becoming one of them in any case. Then it charged at her. Jumping aside, she dodged its charge then heard another howl.

'_There are two of them?'_ She rolled out of the way as the other werewolf charged at her again. It ended up hitting smack bang onto the gutter of the house and fell to the ground. Shooting repeatedly at it, she saw the fur shrivel off of its body, leaving the dead body of a man. One down, one to go. Picking up the body, she threw it into the forest and just managed to avoid the second werewolf. But she didn't avoid it twice. It hit her dead on, sending her flying backwards into the wall of the house. But she didn't stop at the wall, she went through it. Her hat was knocked off and her scarf no longer covered her face as she climbed to her feet amongst the rubble. She saw Mrs Harris out of the corner of her eye and saw the shock in her face when she saw her. But Mrs Harris wasn't the only one. A dark shape hovered above the forest, but Gabrielle had been too concerned with the werewolf to have seen it.

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

He saw the young woman, dressed all in black; stand up amongst the rubble, breathing heavily. Her dark hair was a mess, and her clothes were smudged with dirt, but she was still standing. The werewolf stood there, glaring at her. Waiting for the command to kill her. But the command never came, curiosity halting such an action.

Gabrielle waited for the werewolf to charge, but it just stood there. This was her chance. Shots echoed in the air, and the werewolf crumpled to the ground, dead. Soon, it was nothing but the body of a man. Gabrielle dragged the body out to the forest, and left it with the other one. Making the sign of the cross, she muttered five words in Latin.

"May he rest in peace." Sighing, she observed the cut on her hand. It had been caused by a sharp piece of concrete from the wall, not from the werewolf. But why had it stopped? It made no sense. Unless...she shook her head. Nobody controlled werewolves that she knew, they just acted on their own. Still, what had happened made no sense.

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

He sat in the tree, watching her. Watching closely. She looked almost like that Valerious woman that had been with Van Helsing all those years ago. Come to think about it, she looked like him as well.

'_Well, if my memory serves me right, they did have a child…didn't they? And that child had children and the children had children and so on. Until...'_ He looked down at the young woman.

'_Until now.' _The brotherhood had mentioned his old enemy had had descendants, but he didn't believe he'd run across any of them quite yet.

He saw her grab something out of her pocket, press a few buttons and put the object close to her ear, but she was still holding it. A mobile phone if he wasn't mistaken.

"Come on Gabriel Snr. Pick up." She muttered to herself, unaware of her audience.

Seems that just like he'd been brought back to life, so had Van Helsing. It's not that he didn't expect such a thing anyway. The Vatican were bound to have made such arrangements upon hearing of his return.

"Hey, Gabriel Snr. Has my brother come home yet?" There were short silences in her conversation, as she listened to what Gabriel had to say, "He has? And you want me to come back as there's something we need to discuss. Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll see you then." Then she hung up.

She wasn't an ordinary looking woman, not like other ones that he'd seen around. And times had changed. Women held a firmer place in society then when he'd been around. And the clothes could be a lot more revealing, and the styles had definitely changed. Life was fast paced around here, that he could tell. The villages that had once dotted the landscape were accompanied by a city, full of larger buildings and more people.

This woman, this Van Helsing descendant was beautiful, and not quite what he expected. The women had not been left out of the monster hunting tradition of the family, from what he could tell, befitting the times they lived in.

Dracula followed her on her way home, watching the way she acted. She avoided direct contact unless absolutely necessary, and that was shown on a man that had dared to push into her, trying to get past her without manners. Happening to show that while withdrawn, she was defensive and had quite the temper. He'd have to pursue her another day, there were things he needed to do. Preparations were at hand. And he needed to find the monster. The monster that would one day be responsible for giving his children life. Once he **had** children that was. Maybe finding brides would be a better first step...certainly more entertaining. Or killing Van Helsing...

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

The hairs on the back of Gabrielle's neck rose and she turned around to see nobody. A dark shape passed overhead, but the people below were oblivious to it.

'_Well, it seems the Count is taking a spin to check out the town.'_ She thought, a half smirk coming to her lips. The first time she'd seen him at all really, but nothing she knew of so far looked anything like that.

'_You'd think he'd attempt to blend in more, wouldn't you?'_

She made her way back to the house, hanging her coat on the coat rack in the front room, with her scarf and hung her hat on the hat stand. Half wondering why she even did that, knowing they'd all need some form of cleaning from the dirt and plaster on them. Gabrielle could hear raised voices in the next room, picking out that they were Gabriel's and Gabriel Snr's. Anna didn't seem to be involved at all. Then again, she was still at school. A good thing she was soon going to discover.

"How is this…monster any use to Dracula? I don't see the sense in protecting it! You haven't given me one reason as to why we should!" shouted Gabriel.

'_Monster? What on earth is he talking about?'_

"That is because you haven't managed to let me tell you!" shouted Gabriel Snr.

"What on earth is going on here?" asked Gabrielle, walking into the lounge room, where they were having their argument.

"He's trying to tell me that this, " Gabriel Junior pointed at the Frankenstein monster, "monster, needs protection!" Looking where he was pointing, Gabrielle's eyes widened.

"Oh my god." Her body immediately tensed at the sight of it, wondering what the hell had possessed her brother to bring such a thing into their living room. Okay, so that was cruel but true.

"Gabriel, we need to protect this poor creature from Dracula. He needed protection from him once before, and he needs it again." Said Gabriel Snr.

"Why does he need protection?" asked Gabrielle, not taking her eyes off the monster.

"If Dracula finds him, he'll be able to give life to… " Gabriel Snr paused, "…to his children."

"But he doesn't have children yet, does he?" Gabriel said, "Then having the thing really won't do him any good."

"Luckily, no. But, he'll start looking for brides, and then the children will follow. This creature is the key to Frankenstein's machine to create life."

"That thing can't possibly still be around. Frankenstein castle's a ruin!"

"It wasn't in that castle the last time it was used. It was in Dracula's."

"Which we can't get to. If history's right, then the entrance is in the Valerious Manor and that burned down years ago."

Gabriel Snr looked at Gabrielle for confirmation; she nodded.

"It's true. A few decades ago, there was a fire that swept through town and destroyed the Manor. The family, our family, just managed to escape."

The Frankenstein monster watched the exchange curiously, saying nothing.

"I stopped Dracula before, and I can stop him again." Gabriel Snr said, "We just have to find him. Before he finds us."

"Right. And how do you plan to do that Sherlock?" Gabriel said, "Last time I checked, neither Gabby or me know how to kill the damn guy. And from what I've read that isn't easy."

"No. It isn't."

"Um, I think our more important issue at the moment is..." Gabrielle said nervously, looking at the monster, "...this guy. What are we going to do?"

"We have to hid him. Keep him somewhere safe where Dracula can't find him."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"We could hide him in the basement." Suggested Gabriel, "It's not like anyone goes down there anyway. And there's really nowhere else he can go at the moment."

"That will have to do then."

"Fine." Gabrielle said, "But one of you is taking him down there."

"What?" Gabriel said.

"You found him brother, you take care of him. I'm having nothing to do with him." She looked at the monster, "No offence."

He looked at her silently, yet with a spark of understanding in those eyes. Still, the uneasiness in the pit of her stomach was making her queasy.

"Alright, come with me then." Gabriel said to the creature and he followed him down to the basement.

Sometime later, Gabrielle re-entered the lounge room, after changing, to find that her brother was gone, and Gabriel was just sitting on the couch reading the paper.

"Where's Gabriel gone?" she asked him.  
"Out. Working." That response was all that she needed.

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

The afternoon soon came, and with it came Anna. They heard the voices in the driveway long before they saw either Anna or her friend Bridget.

"I mean geez, all I did was ask!"

"I think it was _how_ you asked..."

"Yeah well she didn't have to bit my darn head off, now did she? Man, if she's not on her monthlies I'll eat my hat."  
"You don't wear one."  
"Fine, I'll eat my sister's."

Laughter, "That I'd like to see."

"I bet you would. And I bet you'd form a wager with Chrissie over whether I'd do it or not too."  
"Hm, maybe. More like whether you'd barf after you did it or not."  
"That's stupid. Whoever bet against that would certainly lose money."

The door to the living room opened and the two of them wandered in, still talking.

"You have a point."  
"See? That's why I figured it would be whether I'd have the guts to do it or not."

"One of us would still certainly lose money."  
"Gee. Thanks Bridg."

"It's true. You'd never do it."

"Actually...yeah. You're right."  
"Afternoon." Gabrielle said, interrupting them, yet not bothering to look up from her book. Compared to Anna, all dark hair and dark eyes, Bridget's dirty blonde hair and blue eyes lent a contrast to the two girls, yet at the same time they couldn't be more alike, with obvious family related differences. Both tall and skinny, with shoulder length hair, though Anna's was a lot more messy with a fringe that hung into her face. It was no wonder they were best friends, even sharing similar tastes in clothing, skinny jeans and a singlet hidden beneath the school blouse, black and grey for Anna, dark blue and brown for Bridget.

"Oh, hey Gabby." Anna then said, obviously just realising she was even in the room.

"Afternoon Gabrielle." Bridget echoed, "We, uh, didn't see you there."

"I figured." She put her book down and leant over the back of the couch to look at them, "How was your day?"

Anna shrugged, "Fine, I guess. Nothing outstanding, I mean, it's high school."

"What was all that stuff earlier about?"

The two of them exchanged a look, "Nothing important."

"Right..."

"Where's Gabriel?" Anna asked, to change the subject.

"Which one?"  
"Our brother."

"Out working. Should be home soon though."  
"Cool."

As there really wasn't anything left to say, the two of them wandered off upstairs, leaving Gabrielle behind. She let them go about their business, seeing no reason to interfere and went back to reading her book.

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

Sometime later, the smell of pork roast drifted past her nose. Following the scent to the kitchen, she found Gabriel Senior consulting a recipe book. He looked up from the book when he heard her approach.

"I thought I might earn my keep."

"You don't need to. But hey, if it saves me cooking…go right ahead." She smiled and left the kitchen. Walking upstairs, she lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling not knowing really what else to do and wondering what the hell was taking her brother so long.

'_His jobs don't usually take this long and he had the same amount as me.' _She frowned, _'Must be downtown again, slacking off.'_

After a while, she sat up and looked at the cut on her hand again. If either Gabriel had noticed it, they hadn't thought much of it and so hadn't said anything. It didn't matter though. What was on her mind was seeing Dracula. Okay, a glimpse of a dark shape flying about, but hey, still Dracula. What was he doing anywhere near her anyway? Had he had something to do with those werewolves? Finding no answers, she wandered back downstairs, just in time to see that her brother had come home. Grinning from ear to ear too.

'_What's he so happy about?'_

"What's made you so happy?" she asked, vocalising her thoughts.

"Guess what?" he replied.

"Guess what, what?" she asked him.

"You'll never believe who I scored a job from."

"Who?" _'Why can you never just be straight forward?'_

"Giselle Lorriet."

Shock as she registered the name, "No…way."

"Yes way."

"Oh my god."

"Who is this Giselle Lorriet?" asked Gabriel Snr, interrupting the two of them. They looked over, to see him setting the table.

"The daughter of the richest man in Transylvania at the present moment. That's who she is." Gabriel replied, "You can pretty much compare the Lorriets to the Valerious back in the old days, they have that much influence."

"Not all of it good." Gabrielle muttered, "I've heard of Miss Lorriet's reputation." _'Who hasn't? I'd say slag, but then again, I'm not that kind of person. Oh wait, I just did...well, thought it anyway...'_

"Reputation or not, she's hired me to do a job for her."

"Someone must be popular then."

"Or the business." Gabriel Snr added.

"The good news is that I'm free tomorrow so I can start straight away." Gabriel said, almost completely ignoring what they'd just said.

"What exactly is this job? And how come you're free tomorrow?" Gabrielle asked, feeling a little confused, "I thought we were snowed under for the next week."

"About a quarter of the jobs were pranks, most of the ones I've checked out today have been false alarms or not what was originally anticipated, like Mrs Harris."

"Not this time round."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean two werewolves, no stray dogs."

"Well done." Gabriel Snr said.

She felt a little embarrassed by the sudden praise, "Uh, thanks but I just got lucky. The first one got clumsy and the second..." she trailed off.

"What about it?" Gabriel asked.

"I don't know. It just...stopped, making itself an easy target. It was weird." She looked over at Gabriel Snr, noticing the look on his face, "What?"

"I think someone must have been behind it."

Both siblings looked at him curiously, "Who?"

"Dracula."

Gabriel looked worried, "Which could mean that it was a deliberate attempt to draw us out of the woodwork."  
"Not necessarily. Causing havoc is something he does regardless. He was doing it for years before I even turned up in Vaseria[1] all those years ago."

"Good point."

Gabrielle wondered whether she should mention that she'd seen him flitting about after fighting the werewolves but didn't really know how relevant it actually was so kept said details to herself.

"Well, maybe them Lorriets will pay better then anyone else." Is what she said instead, "We could certainly use the money."  
"Exactly." Gabriel said, picking up on the new topic easily, "And besides, you can take care of the other jobs while I'm busy with this so we're good on all fronts. Hell, we could even get the ol' master back into the game." He gestured towards Gabriel Snr, "If he's up for it."

"Though someone's gotta watch the house and we can't leave Anna alone all time."

"What's this about leaving me alone?" They all turned to see that Anna and Bridget had just walked in.

"Don't worry about it Anna." Gabriel Snr said.

"Kay, but I wanna know what all the other stuff was about. A new job or something?" Bridget looked on curiously, the Van Helsing family trade nothing new to her being nearly part of the family herself.

"Gabriel's gotten a new job." Gabrielle explained, "From the Lorriets."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope."

"Those rich biatches actually need the help?" Bridget asked, "Thought they handled everything themselves."

"Obviously not this then Bridg."

"True."

"What exactly is this new job of yours then Gab?"

"I'm wondering that myself." Gabrielle added, "What exactly is it that they need our help for?"  
"Giselle says that something seems to be hanging around the house, something out of the ordinary."

Anna exchanged a look with Bridget, "Like that's new."

"Anyway, I'm going to go over to check it out, scope out whether it's actually a monster. If its nothing then that's that. But if it isn't, well, we'll be a lot richer. Hell, they'll probably pay me for the time spent there anyway."

"That's fine." said Gabrielle, "Though I'm curious as to why it's Giselle and not Miss Lorriet."

She could swear he blushed but with Gabriel sometimes it was hard to tell.

"She asked me to call her that, said Miss Lorriet sounded too formal. Practically hates being called that unless absolutely necessary."

"I see."

After dinner, Gabrielle and Gabriel sat in the lounge room, chatting about the new job, while Gabriel Snr watched television with Anna and Bridget, who's conversation soon deviated into a flurry of gossip, leaving him to watch it alone. Soon enough, they all trouped off to bed. Gabrielle then remembered about last night.

"Gabriel." Both of them turned around. Anna and Bridget were already in Anna's room, discussing something out of their hearing.

"Oops. I meant Gabriel Snr." Her brother left them, walking off into his bedroom, leaving her alone with the other Gabriel.

"Last night I heard you thrashing about in your bed. What was that about?" she asked, half expecting him not to answer.

"Oh, just a nightmare. Nothing for you to worry about." He said and left her standing in the hallway, alone.

**Some Random: Okay, that's that chapter done. I think it's actually longer then the original, as I added all that stuff between Bridget and Anna near the end and where they start talking about Dracula. Early days yet though, and there's more to come. Please review, and uh, well, that's it from me for now.**

**[1] The name rang a bell in my mind from somewhere to do with all this (Van Helsing related stuff) so I think that's the name of the town where Anna is in the movie, but I'm not sure. Poetic license really...**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four - ****Interlude...**

The days passed, and it was customary to see Gabriel disappearing off to the Lorriet house to see Giselle. Her constant requests for help seemed suspicious (who gets that many disturbances in that short amount of time?) and Gabrielle suspected that there was more to this than everyone else thought. And she guessed Anna was probably catching on too, if she'd been paying attention. Some days her sister was just deliberately unobservant, unless it concerned something she deemed important. So far, what Gabriel had been up to, wasn't one of them. At least it seemed that way to her.

One night, Gabrielle had stayed up to see him come home. He'd come home, she'd asked where he'd been, he'd said that he'd been with Giselle again and stormed off to his room, seeming ticked off for being asked something so obvious. But what he didn't notice was that she'd noticed the red mark on his neck, a hiccie. She'd gone off to bed smirking, knowing that she'd been right. Gabriel had a girlfriend. Not that such a thing was unusual, but the fact that he'd kept it from them was something to think about. They were his sisters for God's sake, what were they going to do that could be so horrible that he couldn't have told them? Part of her felt a little uneasy about arrangement, but dismissed it as some kind of sisterly attention deficient. Though normally she didn't feel like that, which was a cause for a little concern. She'd never had many problems with her own sex, just...the other one.

Sighing at the memory, Gabrielle walked into the lounge room. She found Anna and Gabriel Senior, sitting on the carpet, in front of the television. Playing with their new Playstation 3. It had been a present from Giselle, a thankyou present for their help. Or in other words, Gabriel's help. Not that she was complaining, it kept Anna busy and that was saying something. Apparently Anna was also angling for an Xbox 360 sometime in the future, but so far seemed to be keeping such dealings to herself. That and the usual nagging for an electric guitar.

"What cha playing?" she said, which surprised them.

"Oh, hey Gabby." said Anna, barely turning her attention from the game, "We're playing…damn what's it called again?"

"Final Fantasy XII." Said Gabriel Snr.

"Yeah! That's it!" Said Anna excitedly, "We've been taking turns at playing, cause it's only single player, mostly when the other dies."

"Well, mostly." Gabriel Snr sidled a glance at his youngest ancestor, who was too busy concentrating on the screen to really notice.

Gabrielle's lips curved into a tiny smile, "She's like that."

"Oh! And I almost forgot!" Anna abruptly handed the controller to Gabriel Snr to get up and race off upstairs to her room. Gabrielle waited until she came back, holding a note. Feeling a little puzzled at the sudden outburst.

"What's this?" she said, taking it off Anna and then read it.

"A musical?"

"Yes." Anna replied, "Bridget somehow convinced me to participate...well, her and Nina really. So I was wonderin' if you guys wanted to come and see it, you know, as it says to invite family and whatnot. Gabriel Snr does count as family after all." She scuffed one foot on the carpet, feeling a little uncomfortable, "It's not A grade Hollywood or anything, but still good. I mean, it's the biggest kind a performance thing I've ever really done and...yeah...so what do you think?"

"It sounds okay with me. You should ask Gabriel when he gets back to see if he wants to come." She already knew he would, yet was wondering if he'd openly invite Giselle to come along as well. Still as long as he came she'd be fine, or Gabriel Snr. She had to have someone she knew.

"Gabriel Snr?"

He nodded, "Sure. Sounds fine with me."

"Sweet!" cheered Anna, hopping about in what seemed like a little victory dance. Gabrielle just rolled her eyes, smiling lightly.

"So, you going to keep dancing, or are you going to finish this level?" Gabriel Snr asked her. Anna bounded back over and grabbed the controller.

"You bet cha sweet arse I'm gonna finish this darn level. Bring it on biatches!"

Gabrielle decided to leave them to have their fun, dropping the note about the musical onto the coffee table.

Suddenly the phone rang and Gabrielle answered it.

"Van Helsing residence, Gabrielle speaking." She said. They had two phones, one in the front room and the other in the lounge room. The one in the front room was for work and the other one was just for everyday use.

"Gabrielle! It's me, Gabriel! You're lovable brother, how are things?" Gabrielle smiled lightly when she heard her brother's voice.

"Just fine. Anna and Gabriel are playing Final Fantasy XII on the Playstation 3." She replied.

"Cool. Do you know what level they're up to?"

"You expect me to know?"

He laughed, "Nah not really."

"Right. So, you must have some reason to call me other for idle chit chat. Am I right?"

"Yes, that's right. You know how you like to sing…"

"Yes…" _'What is he getting at?'_

"And are pretty damn good at singing…"

"What are you getting at here?" Hm, she seemed to be voicing her thoughts more often lately.

"You know that musical downtown that's going to be on at the beginning of the month?"

"Yes. The one Maria Lorriet is planning and that most of town is gossiping about. The one everyone never hears the end about."

"Yeah, that one."

"What about it?"

"Well, it seems that their leading lady is unable to take her part, due to family matters. So…"

"Yes, so what?" Gabrielle didn't quite know what to be feeling right now, but anticipation was close at hand. She had a very good feeling she knew exactly what her brother was alluding to.

"Due to my wonderful relationship as protector of the woman that's the daughter of the woman in charge of the musical, Giselle Lorriet, I have managed to score you…" Gabriel paused to build up the suspense. And he was succeeding.

"Managed to score me what? Stop being a pain and drawing out the suspense!"

"I managed to score you the job as her replacement."

"You're kidding me! How'd you convince Giselle?" Elation and fear both gripped her, leaving her feeling light headed (in a good way) and slightly nauseous at the same time. While thrilled at the prospect of finding an outlet for her hidden talent, being in the spotlight was quite daunting.

"Well, let's just say that she'd like to hear you before she makes it official, but I'm pretty sure that the part is in the bag."

"Thanks Gab. I'll do my best."

"Hey, anything to keep you happy sis."

She bit her bottom lip, almost picking up an extra meaning to his words and immediately felt a little guilty that he bothered to mention such things. That those such things actually needed to be said.

"Besides, you've got nothing to worry about. No one sings like you sis."

"Gabriel." Gabrielle suddenly heard the voice with a thick French accent that obviously belonged to Giselle through the receiver, "What are you doing?"

"Just telling my sister the news."

"She better be good. Otherwise we're officially screwed."

"Trust me. She is good." Gabrielle decided to keep quiet, to see where the conversation went. Plus, she had no idea what to say anyway, the whole thing still tossing about in her mind.

"When are you going to finish with 'er? I'm getting impatient."

'_Impatient for what, may I dare ask?' _thought Gabrielle, evilly. No better way to make her less nervous and feel better then snoop on her brother.

"Just wait a minute and I'll be back." Said Gabriel and then to Gabrielle said, "Well, best not keep her waiting. I might have a new job to do."

'_Job, yeah right.'_

"Mama won't be back at ze 'ouse till about six-ish, so she should get 'ere around 'alf-past five." Giselle said in the background, "I want to 'ear 'er myself before I introduce 'er to Mama."

"Ya hear that Gabs?" Gabriel prompted.

"Alright. And by the way Gabriel, do remember to get some sleep. Don't let her keep you up." Said Gabrielle and hung up on her surprised brother.

"He still thinks nobody knows what he's been up to. Well, he should have thought that I'd find out eventually." She said to herself.

"What's up?" said Anna, "And who's not letting Gabriel sleep?" Gabrielle turned around to see her standing behind her. Anna seemed to be doing that a lot lately, sneaking up on them when they weren't expecting it.

'_No doubt she'd call it her "ninja skills" or something...'_

"Uh…well, he needs his sleep so…yeah, that's why I told him not to let her keep him up. Honest." Gabrielle tried to wipe the sheepish look of her face, for Anna's sake.

Anna pulled a face, "I'm not twelve..."

"No, I know that."

"This means I know perfectly well about sex so you can elaborate for me." She flopped down on the couch, practically taking up all the space, "So, does Gab have a girlfriend?"

"I think so, yes."

"Eh, figured that's why he was seeing what's-her-name..."

"Giselle."

"...so often."

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, "And when did you decide this?"

"Ages ago. The PS3 was a bit of hint that something was going on between them for her to be giving us presents."  
"Uh huh."

"Anyway, Gabriel Snr and I are going downtown, for some reason. He's practically dragging me out, on the pretence that I spend too much time lazing around indoors."

Gabrielle looked at her sister pointedly.

"What?"

"It's true though. Especially since we got that PS3."

"Nu-uh."

Gabrielle sighed.

"So anyway, we're going downtown, maybe go to the park, I don't know. You want anything?"

"No, I'm fine but thanks for asking."  
"Cool. So I'll catch ya later."

She sprung off the couch and headed into the front room for her coat. Gabriel Snr appeared not soon after.

"I'm guessing she told you what's happening." He said.

Gabrielle nodded, "And that it was under the pretence she spent too much time lazing around indoors."

He smiled, "Well, it's true."

She returned his with one of her own, smaller smiles, "I know that. I've known that for a long time now." She paused for a moment, thinking her next words over, "Gabriel and I have been the only parental figures Anna has had, well, since Mum died that is. Now, she has you. It's good to see that there's someone else that can look out for her. I...don't think I've been a very good role model." Another pause for thought, "I know Gabriel has tried his best, but...it's good there's someone else, you know what I mean. We can't be here all the time for her."

"No worries." He grinned at her, "It's about time I gave this parenting thing another shot."

Another tiny smile. He'd gotten used to the fact that that was all he ever seemed to get out of her.

"You know, I'm thinking I'm beginning to like this arrangement of you staying here with us. It was a little strange at first, considering it's been just us three for so long but now...I guess I've finally adjusted."

"Well, that's good. I could only guess what you and Gabriel would get up to if I wasn't here."

Her lips curved into a pout, "Gabriel Snr, we're in our twenties. What do you expect us to do?"

Gabriel Snr grinned back.

"Hey, you said so yourself you haven't been a good role model for Anna."

She pursed her lips, his meaning opposite to what she'd been thinking. With the way she acted, that was no behaviour for Anna to mirror and she thanked God that it hadn't turned out that way.

'_Thank God for our brother.'_

"Come on Gabriel Snr! I'm not waiting all day for you." They heard Anna shout, "You're the one that suggested this little trip after all you big lug!"

"I best be going then." He said, and walked off into the front room to get his coat and get going. Gabrielle heard the door shut soon after, signalling that she was now on her own. Her happy demeanour faded rather quickly, her smile disappeared. She hadn't wanted Anna or either of the Gabriel's to get worried about her. The Cardinal had probably warned Gabriel Senior of the depression spell of her youth, but she didn't want to worry him, by showing him that had progressed with her to her adulthood. She tried to keep up the façade that everything was alright with her, and it had been easier lately more so then earlier on but she knew she had to admit to herself that not all was right with her. She wasn't her sister, Anna who found joy in the smallest things. She knew she had scars, terrible scars inside that hadn't healed and knew no other way to deal with such...the words weren't even there to describe exactly what they were.

'_It hurts too much that it can't be anything else but deep scars. Wounds that haven't healed. Man am I so fucked up.'_

Sighing over her self reflection, she made her way to her bedroom. Opening the top drawer on her beside table, she took something out of it. Something with a sharp edge that gleamed in the light.

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

"Dang it Gabriel Snr! Push harder! I'm not going high enough!" shouted Anna, encouraging Gabriel to push her harder on the swing.

"You don't want to go too high, otherwise you'll fall off." replied Gabriel Snr.

"Don't be silly you ninny! I won't fall off. I'm way too pro to fall off some little kiddie swing!"

"If you insist." Gabriel pushed harder on the swing. A little too hard.

"Aw crap." Anna complained, rubbing her behind after she got up off the ground, having tumbled off the swing, "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"What was that about being way too pro to fall off some little kiddie swing?" Gabriel Snr teased and she glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah ya old codger, I'd like to see you stay on a swing at that height. The seat practically fell out from under me."

He smiled, and she stretched her arms above her head.  
"So, is this enough "no lazing around indoors" for you? Cause I seriously have a craving for ice cream. And strangely, donuts. But mostly ice cream. Ooh, and pizza. No, no...ice cream."

He laughed, "I really don't know what to do about you."

She grinned, "Neither do Gabriel and Gabrielle for that matter and they're my brother and sister." Another stretch, "You should so shout me ice cream old man."

He raised an eyebrow, saying nothing. She read his unspoken question in his expression.

"Cause that's what the ol' gramps does for his grand kiddies. Shouts them ice cream when they're out doing family bonding crud cause he reckons she's too lazy and spends way too much time indoors doing awesome stuff that he just can't comprehend."

"Right."

She gave him her best puppy dog eyes, "Pweese Grampa Gabriel..."

He slapped her on the back of the head playfully, and she snickered.

"Actually I can just see the looks on peoples faces if I kept callin' ya that, so I guess I have to say you're my uncle instead. Even though you're like way ancient." She teased, grinning.

He hit her again, "Minx."

She poked out her tongue, darting away out of reach, "Hey, you're the one that wanted to spend the day out with me." She looked around, "Tell me again why the hell we came to the park."

He shrugged, "You're the one that wanted to go."

She pulled a face, "Eh, remind me not to do that on a Sunday afternoon ever again, cause I swear I can see that stupid blonde bitch from my Maths class and her little brother over by the slide."

Another eyebrow raise from Gabriel Snr, "Who?"

"I don't know, never really bothered to exactly remember her name. Stacy something, I think. American. Thinks her and Chrissie are like, best buddies cause they're both from America even though Chrissie is from New York and this other chick is from some other place I can't exactly remember but not New York. LA I think. That's in California right?"

He shrugged, "I haven't had much to do with America."

"Yeah well I do, cause I have friend from there but that's about it." Her stomach growled, "You know what, let's get that ice cream before I explode or what's-her-face decides to come talk to me."

The two wandered out of the park, Gabriel Snr checking the skies, a behaviour not going unnoticed by his charge.

"Lookin' for UFO's?" she joked, playfully jabbing him in the ribs, "Or let me guess...a flying cow?"

"Nothing so amusing." He replied grimly, "You-know-who."  
"Oh...Voldemort."

His gaze went skyward, almost as if praying for divine intervention, "No, Dracula."

"Oh, close enough. Whatcha lookin' out for him for? Something tells me he isn't going to swoop outta the sky and kidnap me for some strange reason. Probably doesn't even know I exist."

"He'd likely come after me first."  
"Being his ol' nemesis and all. Like Lara Croft and Natla."  
"Who?"  
"Never mind, video game series reference." She skipped a few steps ahead, "You Gab and Gabby are gonna kill him off right? Before he runs amok too much."

"That's the plan."

"That was the plan in ye old days but it didn't quite go exactly as you planned it. Think you'll do things better this time round?"

"He'll die. One way or another."

"Yeah, well I hope you're right. I don't plan on dying myself anytime soon."

He looked over at her, as she continued half-skipping down the path beside him, brown hair bouncing in the breeze.

'_Not if I can help it.'_

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

The smell of blood was what drew him to the house. The top floor was where the scent was coming from. It was too hard to resist it. Dracula flew down to the balcony joined to one of the rooms on the top floor. The room where the scent of blood was coming from. He could hear someone crying. A woman crying. The door was open, but curtains blocked his way. Peering through the curtains, he saw the woman that he'd seen days ago. The one that had killed his two werewolves. Van Helsing's descendant. Tears were running down her cheeks, and there was a clatter as she dropped the knife. The bloodstained knife. Looking carefully, he could see the cuts on her wrists that were bleeding.

The pain was not physical, but emotional. Gabrielle tried to wipe away the tears, but they kept coming back. The cuts would heal, just like the others, and Anna and the Gabriels would be none the wiser. It was terrible yes, both keeping things from her family and the deed itself but what was she to do? Nothing was ever going to be right with her, she'd never been right. A Van Helsing, she was a Van Helsing damn it and partly a Valerious as well and yet...nothing. She curled her legs up, holding them close to her body with her hands, yet the smell...it was still there. The coppery scent of her shame. Part of her wanted to laugh at how pitiful she seemed, broken hysterics at what she could admit yet do nothing about.

'_Because I am nothing. If my ancestors could see me now...'_

A choked half laugh through the tears, wrists still stinging.

'_That doesn't hurt as much as I do inside.'_

Broken. That's what she was.

'_And I don't know if I can ever be fixed. I don't even feel like I'm Gabrielle Van Helsing anymore. That name deserves a better person behind it.'_

Dracula didn't understand what was happening. She'd been sitting here, slitting her own wrists, letting the blood flow and was crying about it. Harming herself for reasons he couldn't see, couldn't understand. Whatever pain she was going through, it must be enough to make her cause herself more pain. To cause physical pain in an attempt to ease another, deeper, inner pain. Why would a beautiful woman like her need to do that to herself? And she was beautiful. He could admit that. He wasn't ashamed to admit that, even though she was the descendant of his greatest enemy. Sitting dishevelled and alone in this room, unaware that the very creature she hunted stood on her balcony. There was a thrill in that, a small victory over a Van Helsing. Trivial but pleasing all the same. This lone woman had given him food for thought, compelling the idea for a greater victory, a greater blow to Gabriel. All he needed now was to formulate a plan...

Gabrielle thought that she heard noises on the balcony, and slowly got off the bed, heading over to investigate. The curtains were blowing about in the wind, even though the soft breeze flowing past was hardly enough to move them like that. It was like...like something had taken off from the balcony and now that she actually looked, actually paid more attention to her surroundings, she could swear that she could see a dark shape fly behind a tall building in the city, disappearing from view. Her heart jumped in her chest, fear coiling in her stomach at this realisation.

'_Was…was…Dracula just standing here…on my balcony…how…how could he know where we lived…my…behaviour must have drawn him here…oh god…'_

She tried to comprehend what she'd just done, yet her tired, emotional mind couldn't force itself to do so.

'_I was...he...could have killed me...he...'_

She stumbled back in the room, grasping at straws for some form of composure, some rational frame of mind.

'_Dear Lord what have I just done? What...what happens now?'_

And that, was something she didn't really want to think about.

**(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

"Okay, I think it's time to go home now Anna, it's getting late." Said Gabriel, dragging Anna away by the arm from one of the music stores.

She pulled a face, "I'm fifteen, I can stay out as late as I want."

"Not on your own you're not."

She poked her tongue out at him and wrenched free, "What, is the old man tired?"

He sighed, "Anna..."  
"Kidding, kidding...but seriously? It can't be that late."

"Late enough."

She started walking off and he grabbed her arm again, "Hey!"  
"Look, I'm not saying you have to go to bed or anything, but we are going home." Something felt off, he couldn't really explain what, but something felt wrong. Like they needed to get home. He was half-afraid something had happened to Gabrielle.

"We can go out again tomorrow if you really want, after school."

"I can't. I've got rehearsals for the musical." She paused for thought, "Which reminds me. I have to ask wether Gabrielle can pick me up late from school tomorrow. I can't catch the bus home like usual as the rehearsals run too late."

"Okay. Fine. Let's just go home."

She looked at him a little weirdly, "Fine. But what's got your knickers in a twist?"

He grimaced at the odd expression, yet said nothing, walking down the street. She continued looking at him for a moment, wondering what was going on, before grudgingly falling into step with him.

When they got home, Gabriel tried to open the door. It was locked.

"Gabrielle! What's going on?" he shouted.

"Gabriel Snr?" Gabrielle's voice called timidly from inside, "Is that you?"

"Yes."  
"Where's Anna?"

"God Gabs, where the hell do you think I am?" Anna complained, "It's not like I ran off from Gabriel Snr or anything."

Gabrielle's heartbeat settled down a little, knowing her sister was safe. Her hand curled tighter around the knife in her hand by reflex.

"So...it's just the two of you out there?"

Anna pulled an odd face, "Uh, yeah. Who else?"

"Gabriel Snr?"

She had to know, had to know that...that it was them.

'_No chances Gabs. No chances. After what happened...'_

"Is everything all right?" Gabriel Snr said carefully, "Gabrielle?"

She snapped out of her daze and stared at the door, "Fine. No, everything...just come in. Now."

Anna looked at Gabriel Snr, the unspoken question "What the hell?" in her gaze. He shrugged.

"You'll have to unlock the door first."

"Right, right." How could she have forgotten that? She ran a shaking hand through her hair, feeling more on edge then usual, "Just a minute."

The door was soon unlocked and opened to reveal Gabrielle. Her hair was a mess, her clothes just as dishevelled, holding a knife tightly in one hand and her whole posture defensive and on edge. The two of them wandered in, and she shut the door behind them. Her hand hesitated over the lock, wondering whether the move was worth it and without another thought decided to take whatever precautions she could.

"Okay..." Anna said, watching her lock the door and taking in her obviously distressed state, "What the hell is going on?"

Gabrielle leant against the door, wondering how she was going to explain.

'_No worries Anna. I just...he was...shit, shit, shit!'_

She ran a hand through her hair again, trying to calm her nerves.

'_What the hell is wrong with__ me?'_

"Dracula…he was…" she was stumbling over her words, "…he was…he was…he was here. Just a moment ago." She stopped, wondering whether to say exactly how close she believed he had been. However, simply saying what she'd had seemed to be enough.

"No wonder you locked the door." Gabriel Snr said, eyes scanning the room, going very still.

"I didn't even know he was there…" she confessed, "I was…sitting…in my room," _'Liar! And you know it!'_ "and then I heard noises nearby and…I saw him…leaving…he flew behind a building so I couldn't see him anymore." Gabrielle was shaking, staring at the floor, as she couldn't think of what else to do.

'_That's it. No more. I can't do that anymore. If...he...if he can...you have to stop. It helps...for a bit...but for the safety of your family, of this entire crusade...you're going to have to stop behaving like that...'_

"Here, just calm down." Gabriel Snr put his hand on her shoulder, and was shocked to feel just how badly her body was shaking. Like the whole world had come down around her ears.

'_I know the Cardinal mentioned her fragile emotions but this...'_

She seemed entirely distant, withdrawn completely into her own mind like she had no idea what she was doing in the outside world.

"Gabrielle." He hugged her gently, and immediately felt her body go completely still, seeing her nails digging deeply into her palms. Her breathing had even gone near silent, tensing like a cornered animal. He stayed still, thinking perhaps he should give her some space when her body appeared to relax, not feeling so rigid in his arms. He let her go anyway, feeling that crowding her was not the best thing right now.

"Everything's going to be alright. We'll work something out." His voice broke the silence she'd not bothered to fill.

"How..." Her voice caught in her throat, feeling both cornered and exposed even when she wasn't. And she hated the feeling. This was her family for God's sake! She had no idea what she was going to say.

"We'll take precautions. I'll keep watch tonight, and you can sleep in Anna's room."

"What?" Anna couldn't' help but complain, "Can't she sleep elsewhere?"

He sent her a stern look, "Company is something she needs tonight, and staying in her own room tonight is too dangerous. Dracula could come back."

Gabrielle's heart jumped, feeling more nervous then before.

"Fine. I...was really only kidding anyway..." she looked at her sister, concerned, "You sure you're okay Gabs?"

She swallowed, taking a moment to compose herself and then nodded, not yet trusting herself to say anything.

Anna however, seemed in a much more observant state of mind, "What about Gabriel? He's over at Giselle's at the moment but what if..." her lips pursed together as she found the courage to speak her mind, "What if Dracula comes for him?"

"I doubt he really even knows your brother exists, or even you for that matter. I'm sure Gabriel can take care of himself.

"Oh God." Gabrielle said, her voice a thread of sound.

"What is it?" Gabriel Snr asked.

"I...I told Gabriel earlier today that I'd go over to the Lorriet manor tonight."

"Whatever for?" Anna asked, feeling puzzled, "Cause if my mind goes south about this then I'm gonna have a totally new opinion of both my siblings and Giselle."

As stupid as the joke may have seemed, it seemed to lift some of the darkness clouding the three in the room. Gabrielle felt somewhat better.

'_How is it that she does that? Lightens up something so serious and makes me smile.' _And she was, small as it might be.

'_Anna...sometimes you__'re truly a wonder...now if we could just do something about that attitude...'_

"Nothing like that." She then said, "I've been offered a spot as the replacement lead in her mother's musical and she wanted me to come over about half-past five this afternoon to show her what I can do."  
"Oh. Okay then. Cause otherwise I was gonna be majorly disturbed."

Gabriel Snr rolled his eyes, before being serious once more, "I'll stay behind and watch Anna while you go out tonight. Just be careful."

Gabrielle nodded, "I will. I don't plan on being taken off guard again."

He nodded, staying silent.

"Wait, that means I have a babysitter? I know it's for my safety and all but...dang." Anna mock complained, "I haven't had one of those since I was...uh, actually I don't remember when I ever had a baby sitter."

Gabrielle's expression turned solemn, yet stayed silent.

'_That's because you were baby sitting me...' _

"Besides, it's more like he'd run screaming from my awesomeness anyway."

They both sighed.

**Some Random: Sorry for the weird chapter ending. I cut chapter 4 into two, as it was getting ****waaaay too long, with all the extra stuff I put into it. So the scene where Gabrielle goes to see Giselle is actually now chapter 5 instead of 4, and includes the introduction of Giselle's mother who wasn't in it before. This also means everything has been taken a step back from where it was originally. Just a warning, mostly towards anyone who read the original and is re-reading. So far I've done this far with the redo as it is actually more work then I originally expected. I'm doing the best I can to get it all done as quickly as possible and will post the other chapters soon. At least this way people can actually read something instead of just getting that damn author's note. Anyway, please review people. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. I mean, feedback means I know who is reading and whether I need to change anything, the re-write was worth it instead of just scrapping the whole thing and...alright, I think I'll leave it there. Ciao!**


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